Large cylindrical containers have been commonly used to transport a wide variety of materials including liquids. One such container is shown in U.S. Pat. No. Des. 359, 150. It is well known to taper the side walls of such containers to allow the containers to be stacked or nested together when empty. However, current tapered sidewall drums provide a frictional fit between a substantial portion of the side walls of nested containers. This frictional engagement of nested containers makes it extremely difficult to separate the containers when reuse is desired. Further, this difficulty in separating the containers can result in damaging or destroying the containers upon separation.
Also, certain drum designs have the largest diameter of the container adjacent the open end of the container, such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,201,437. When containers of this general design are stacked adjacent to each other the lids of neighboring containers can contact each other and potentially become damaged or loosened due to the jostling of the containers during shipping. This can reduce the integrity of the seal between the lid and the container with subsequent leakage as the result.